France

Cabernet Sauvignon

Merlot

Cabernet Franc

Petit Verdot

Ch. Haut-Brion

Chateau Haut-Brion Premier Cru Classe Pessac-Leognan

Bordeaux

Pessac-Léognan

Hard to believe that this wine is 104 years old. The colour is still intact, more than a hint of ruby red, so delicate with barely there tannins, tobacco leaf, cranberry, earth, saffron, white truffle, miso broth, cold ash. In its twilight but still has such charm and finesse, a memory of a firmer architecture, and has a moment of revival after 15 minutes in the glass, where the fruit gathers strength (so much so that I happily had two glasses over an hour - astounding when you think of the age of the wine). Haut-Brion was bottled as Graves wine at the time, a full four decades before it became a Cru Classé de Graves, and six decades before it became a Pessac Léognan - but already securely established as an 1855 1st Growth, one of only four at the time. The owners of Haut-Brion in 1921 were the Milleret family, but they were in financial trouble and would be foreclosed by the bank Compagnie Algerienne in 1922. It must have been tough, you would imagine, to take advantage of a vintage that was so hot at harvest that many estates had high alcohols and therefore trouble controlling the fermentation, but they can be proud of having produced this wine that is still delighting more than a century after bottling. As ever with wines this age, the Drink By date is meaningless. It feels like it only has a few more years left in it - but possibly that is the impression it has been giving for the past 40 years. Worth saying though that this was drunk at Bern's Steak House in Tampa, where the cellar is exceptionally cool and well maintained. I imagine the only better place to have drunk it would be from the cellars of the château itself.

Inside Bordeaux

Medium to full intensity, takes its time to open, this is carefully built, slow and steady in its expression, textured, restrained, cocoa bean, espresso, redcurrant, orchard, sage, bilberry. Very much a classical style of Haut-Brion that will I am sure give great pleasure after a decade in bottle - not as monumental as some, but don't count this out - there are all the bones of this exceptional wine, and the tannic architecture will widen over ageing. 1.7% press, 75% new oak, 26hl/h yield, Jean-Pierre Masclef technical director and Jean-Pierre Delmas estate director.

This is an exceptional Haut-Brion, offering juice and elegant balance alongside classically structured layers, generous but restrained, sense of architecture and building blocks of a truly great Left Bank wine. Rippling with sinewy muscles, juicy and controlled, packed with cocoa bean, espresso, liouqorice root, but none of these flavours dominate, knitted together, with a vertical lift. 100% new oak, Jean-Philippe Delmas director, Jean-Philippe Masclef technical director, no outside consultant.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2022 Haut-Brion is a blend of 53.6% Merlot, 35.4% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11% Cabernet Franc aging in 62.9% new oak. The nose is typically closed and broody, requiring a lot of shaking to wake up enticing notes of iron ore, red roses, lavender, mint tea, and forest floor, leading to a tantalizing core of plum preserves and blueberry pie. The medium to full-bodied palate is very tightly knit with vibrant black and blue fruit layers and red berry sparks, framed by very fine-grained tannins and a refreshing backbone, finishing long and minerally. A classic, breath-taking expression of Haut-Brion, I expect this to remain shy and restrained for the first 10 years so in bottle, and then watch it soar.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

The 2021 Haut-Brion is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. After a swirl or two, the nose slowly awakens to reveal notes of cassis, kirsch, and juicy plums, followed by suggestions of dark chocolate, clove oil, iron ore, and garrigue. Medium-bodied, a great intensity of black and red berry flavors gradually grows in the mouth, structured with taut, grainy tannins and a lively line, finishing on a lingering, fragrant earth note.

Pure, stony and floral with fine intensity, ripe black currant, dark cherry, fine tobacco, sage and discreet oak underneath. Very powerful with a bright freshness, dense fruit and plenty of super fine tannin, impressive length and nuance, should become absolutely tremendous.

Sommelier

Composed of 48.7% Merlot, 43.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8.1% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Haut-Brion is deep garnet-purple in color. It waltzes out with flamboyant scents of wilted roses, star anise, mossy tree bark, and kirsch, leading to a core of blackcurrant pastille and stewed black plums. The full-bodied palate has a rock-solid structure of firm, grainy tannins and lively acidity supporting the densely packed, muscular black fruit, finishing incredibly long and with a spicy lift. Give it 5-6 more years in bottle to really hit its stride and drink it over the next 40-years+.

Fourth generation of the Dillon family at Haut-Brion today, overseeing the extremely challening act of keeping a First Growth at the top of its game. This is laying down the gauntlet - powerfully built, complex and succulent layers of tight black fruits and grilled oak, overlaid with charcoal, cloves, tobacco, slate, sage and smoked earth, nuanced and unwilling to show its hand too soon. Needs a good five to eight years more, and will age for decades. Harvested 6 September to 2 October, yields 44hl/ha. 3.8pH. IPT72

Critic Average Rating

Slightly darker fruit than La Mission on the nose with crushed cassis, plum, leather, tobacco with fine oak, mocha and gravely notes with a floral hint, very layered and inviting. The palate is dense and voluminous with digest dark fruit, very fine extract with polished tannin, incredibly pure fruit with absence of any oak flavour, fresh and digest despite a rigid concentration. Very long and grippy finish with a remarkable freshness and purity. Superb.

Stately, muscular, nuanced, waves of toasted cumin, black tea, pomegranate, sandalwood, cloves, smoke, tar, tobacco, intense and concentrated, clearly decades ahead. Rich and powerful, leans into the fingerprint of the vintage but makes it its own. Jean-Philippe Delmas estate director, Jean-Philippe Masclef technical director. 78% new oak for ageing.

Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2014 Haut-Brion starts off with sluggish notes of pencil shavings and unsmoked cigars opening out to a core of classic scents of cassis, licorice, and plum preserves plus a waft of dried roses. The medium-bodied palate is tightly knit and refreshing, with fine-grained tannins to texture the lively black fruit layers, finishing energetic.

Looking back at my En Primeur notes, I wrote 'just love Haut-Brion in difficult vintages, always such a lesson in expert winemaking', and I stand by that comment at the 10 years mark. This is gorgeous, with a density of fruit that elevates it above most. Clear woodsmoke and charcoal twist, with grip and even a hint of length. Characterful and although again we are in drinking window territory, and this is a great opportunity to open and enjoy a 1st growth within living memory of buying it En Primeur if you did so. 45% of production in this wine.

Dense and rich with elegant dark fruit, tobacco, chocolate, rather massive palate with finely distributed tannin, layers of elegant fruit and a very long, almost explosive finish. Excellent wine.

Intense and concentrated blackberry and cassis fruits, with olive tapenade and sweet red liquorice. This is muscular and opulent, seriously structured but with beautiful black truffle and squid ink notes that I find more usually in vintages like 2010 or 2016 - a suggestion of truly ripe Cabernet Sauvignon. The generosity of the vintage comes through in cinnamon and cumin spice, overlaid with incense and crushed rose petals. Exceptional. 100% new oak for ageing, Jean-Philippe Delmas director.

Right up there with the very best of the vintage, showcasing fresh mint, damson, still young with caressing tannins and creamy black fruits, just a stunning wine that is beginning to open up, but will keep delivering for decades. Haut-Brion at its heights, far better than the bottle of the same vintage that I had back in 2022. 100% new oak for ageing, Jean-Philippe Delmas director.

Amazingly young at 17 years old, barely at the stage of stretching its limbs, but everything is here and in place, crouched and ready. Rich in flavour, luscious black fruits that are full of life, this is an exceptional Haut-Brion, performing beautifully in a year where everything went right, but nothing was in excess. You get the full complexity of this site, with a myraid of dark fruits, plump berries, liqourice, pencil lead, mandarin peel and cocoa, you can comfortably cellar this for another few decades, but if you must open now, give it 6-8 hours in a carafe. Jean-Phillip Delmas winemaker, two years into his tenure at the time after taking over from his father Jean-Bernard Delmas in 2003. 100% new oak.

Famously the only Bordeaux red wine outside of the Médoc to be included in the 1855 classification, Haut-Brion was owned by Joseph Eugène Larrieu at the time, in place since the 1830s. He was an important and impressive steward of the estate, with his family heading things up until the 1920s. This has stunning aromatics, the most complex of the lineup tasted here, and underlines why 1996 is recognised as one of the great - and often underestimated - vintages of Haut-Brion. Opens at a slow, steady pace, tobacco leaf and grilled cedar, soft blackberry and cassis fruit, gentle cigar box and pencil lead, ready to drink. 65% new oak for ageing.

Birthyear-vin! 

Så fort korken forlot flaskehalsen kom det en parfyme med duft av «blomster» og frukt.

Tykk som kefir i munnen med en smak av mørke bær som dekker hele ganen som en hinne. Avslutter med pepper og litt chili faktisk. 

Alltid en fornøyelse. 

Amatør

Religiøs opplevelse! Alle hår på kroppen reiser seg og gåsehuden går langt nedover ryggen! Herlig rødfruktige aromaer i tillegg til en god del assortert skogsfrukt. Høykvalitets, søt pipetobakk, slitt lær, fuktig grusmineralitet. Nye aromaer hver gang man stikker nesen ned i glasset. Drikkekurven har koreografi og scenografi som er Svanesjøen verdig. Muskuløs, men samtidig myk og lett på tå. Elegant, kultivert og ekstremt dannet. Slepne tanniner, ekstrem lengde - alt dette i en litt «meh» årgang! Speechless!

WSET 2

Stacked up against the La Mission 1989, tasted alongisde, the Haut-Brion has more immediate punch, still swinging at the very top of its game, and where La Mission has a softer welcome, showing pure pleasure and finesse, the Haut-Brion remains muscular and dense, even a little closed still on first opening, almost impossible to believe at 35 years. A stunning wine, with spiced depths to the damson, roasted plum and cassis fruits. Expect saffron, tobacco and smoked earth notes, with cigar box, rose petal and liqourice aromatics. The texture remains muscular - more so than last time I drank it, but that was from a home cellar and this is ex-château - and it proves one more time that it deserves to be in the pantheon of 20th century wines. Jean-Bernard Delmas estate director, Jean-Philippe Masclef winemaker.

1979 Château Haut-Brion og 1988 Haut-Brion - 79 åpnet ekstremt på våt jord, skogbunn og røyk før den tonet ned med luft. 88 var ikke ulik, men mer finesse med tobakk, lær og varm jord. Fastere solbærfrukt på 88 mot 79s mer modne utgave. Begge med rund og bløt tekstur og fin friskhet. Komplekse viner med vekslende sigar, sjokolade, jorddamp - avslepne tanniner og flott lengde. Klasse. 1979 (94) 1988 (93)

Expert

Modne solbær, balsamiske jordbær, svart te, masse tobakk, ceder og tørr skogbunn, en flott og klassisk ren nese, på smak, den slankeste og mest florale førstevekstene i 86, modne, markante tanniner gir solid struktur, mangler dybden og fruktkonsentrasjonen til de andre førstevekstene. 

Alkohol på 12,5% kler vinen, tanninene sitter godt i finish.

aromatisk delikat, det tok nesten 40 år å bli kvitt fedmen, varm grus, løv, lær og tobakk, fortsatt solid strukturert for nye 20/30 år (96++)

Soft tobacco, rose petals, hedgerow, undergrowth, saffron, this is a great bottle in what was a challenging vintage. As it was ex-cellar, drunk at the estate, I might have been getting an usually good version, but this was gulpable, in that way that all truly great wines are, when you are halfway through the glass before you realise that you ought to slow down and appreciate just how magical the wine in front of you is. Lace-like tannins, just so fine and delicate but still holding everything firmly in place, fruit in the background at this point, with saffron, turmeric, tobacco leaf and clove spinning out the length. Jean-Bernard Delmas director.

The intensity of the first nose is surprising, and not entirely welcome - waves of smoked earth, soy, iron filings and iodine. This was a challenging vintage, with mildew and rainfall that lasted off and on throughout the growing season, and many estates didn't bother to bottle all of their crop under their label (I have seen several Haut-Brion bottles with different labels, making it a particularly tough vintage in terms of bottle variation). We were lucky in that this one did open up to show a more generous side, with campfire smoke and traces of cassis fruit, but it is not one to cellar further. Made by one of the great winemakers of the 20th century, Jean-Bernard Delmas, who had just taken over from his father two years earlier, in 1961, and had already at this point begun to install stainless steel vats in the cellars.

Dyp rød med brunlig kant, men herregud for en vakker farge denne har beholdt over disse årene. 82 år gammel vin med noter av skogbunn, en svak eim av trøffel, cassis og rød frukt. Balansert syre og tanniner som gjennom årenes løp har utviklet et aldeles nydelig, behagelig grep. Intet mindre enn vakkert.

Historie på flaske.

fortsatt «still almost opaque» som Michael Broadbent skrev i «Vintage Wine» sep. 2000. Røk, tobakk, asfalt, jord og grus. Kirsebær i mørk sjokolade. Høy konsentrasjon. Massiv og ren vin uten alkoholstikk

2024	No priceNot available	Outstanding
2023	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2022	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2021	kr 5 997,00Available	Extraordinary
2020	kr 8 250,00Not available	Extraordinary

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Ch. Haut-Brion
Vintages	1921
Country	France, Bordeaux, Pessac-Léognan
Bottle	75 cl

Alcohol	%
Acid	%
Sugar	g/l

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